Revisiting Pyaasa’s lovely ‘Jaane Kya Tune’ with Waheeda Rehman: ‘When Guru Dutt pitched the role of streetwalker to me…’ | Scene Stealer

VK Murthy’s camera skills captured the myriad expressions on Waheeda’s face as she flirted with Guru Dutt playfully. Her come-hither looks could have melted anyone, regardless of their romantic inclinations. What was poor Vijay to do? He followed Gulabo as she circled around pillars and walked the deserted streets at night, weaving her magic in the most melodious fashion possible.

Waheeda Rehman, the fine actor that she is, never overdid the batting of eyelids, her eyes twinkling with mischief and the promise of the night. Meanwhile, Guru Dutt wore an expression of bewilderment and pain as he walked in her direction. Those personalities, their history and their attitude in the track stands at such stark contrast with each other, and that is what creates that electric chemistry, making it difficult for the audience to pull away.

In a video uploaded by WildFilms India, Waheeda spoke about working on the sweet number. Explaining that it was a night shoot and was therefore a bit challenging for her, the actor said in Hindi, “This part was shot in Calcutta. It was shot in the dead of the night since this was a night scene. I used to feel so sleepy, I remember. I kept rinsing my face with water. I was also a bit nervous since I had not seen the rushes.”

“The song was shot in 4-5 days. Guru Dutt had a sense of music and dance, ‘Do it like this,’ he used to tell me. When he had pitched the part to me, he told me that this is a role of a ‘streetwalker.’ I didn’t understand the term, tawaif and prostitute toh suna hai (have heard of tawaif and prostitute), what is a street walker? I didn’t even want to ask. But I have never had any hang ups about doing any variety of roles. Also, Guru Dutt had a nice way of making people understand what he wanted from them, performance wise,” Waheeda added with a smile.

Here’s an interesting trivia for cinephiles: Did you know that Vijay’s part was first offered to Dilip Kumar? The veteran actor had turned it down at the time, stating the toll these intense acts had on his health.

Pyaasa is available to stream on YouTube and Amazon Prime Video.